


ben should not have come to this party

by gaythoughts



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: Ben is Dumb, General nerdiness, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaythoughts/pseuds/gaythoughts
Summary: Ben is not having a great Halloween. Not a single person has understood his costume.
Relationships: Ben Gross & Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	ben should not have come to this party

**Author's Note:**

> I found a bunch of Halloween themed prompts on the interweb and got inspired. I didn’t end up using them, but they laid the mental groundwork for me.
> 
> AU where everything happened except the attempted kisses at Ben’s party and the actual kiss in Malibu? I don’t know I just started writing and got carried away.

Ben is standing in the corner of Trent’s kitchen feeling more anxious than ever. It’s been a couple of weeks but since the breakup, but it’s his first time out and about without Shira to hide behind and elevate him in the social hierarchy. He’s staring down at his feet, drink in hand, pretty disassociated from his surroundings.

Devi walks into the kitchen to get another water and sees Ben next to the fridge. He’s wearing a pair of cat ears and has a piece of paper taped to his shirt that says “Ctrl+C” but he looks zoned out and sad. Devi smiles to herself as she approaches him.

“Great costume, Ben!”

“What?” Ben looks around, caught off guard.

“Copy cat! Very clever!”

“Oh, Thanks. I thought it was pretty obvious but you are literally the only person who has understood it all day.”

“Ah, well don’t beat yourself up, Gross. Not everyone in this school can be as smart as I am,” Devi says as she throws her hair over her shoulder.

Ben observes her costume, a red and white soccer uniform.

“Hey, your costume’s pretty great too, David.  _ Bend It Like Beckham  _ is so underrated!”

“You’ve seen it?” Devi smiles and looks shocked.

“What? It’s a classic!” Ben grins and throws his hands up, “Plus Keira Knightley is totally hot.”

“Oh, yeah, I see,” Devi jests, mockingly shaking her head. She’s glad he doesn’t look so mopey anymore. She gets a little more serious. “Hey, how are you doing?”

“Better now that I know my costume makes sense and that everyone else is just too dumb to get it. Life would be so much easier if everyone were as smart as us,” Ben nudges Devi with his elbow.

“Ah, but then where would you get your massive superiority complex that I love so much?”

“Right back at ya, David. Speaking of dull people, how’re things with Paxton?”

“Okay, first of all, that was mean and this is why everyone thinks you’re an ass,” Devi grins, then sobers. “And second of all, I kinda let it go. I realized I just didn’t know him. And then once I got to know him, I wasn’t all that interested.”

“Hey, you know, I get it. Sometimes the idea of someone is  _ way  _ cooler than the actual person.”

Devi smiles her warmest smile. Ben loves that one. It’s undoubtedly genuine and makes her soft brown eyes crinkle, “Is the single life treating you well, Ben?”

“I don’t know that I’m cut out for it. I miss there being someone that couldn’t complain when I overshared or that I could text at any hour or who I could complain about my parents to. Now I just talk to Patty all the time, which I guess is okay because she’s a much better listener than Shira ever was.”

“Sorry, Ben. You can always overshare to me. I  _ am  _ back to only having two friends and they’re both pretty busy with their own hobbies and relationships these days, with Fab’s robotics tournament coming up and Eleanor rejoining the play and having to make up for lost rehearsal.”

Ben smiles softly at this, appreciating the genuine gesture, “Thank you, Devi. That really means a lot. It’s been a long couple of weeks and I just–” Ben falters.

“Hey it’s okay,” She reaches for his hand and rubs soothing circles on the back of his palm with her thumb. Ben grasps her hand tighter, squeezing his eyes shut. “Do you want to leave? You can come over to my house and watch a scary movie?”

“No, David, I’m not gonna make you leave. I’m fine. Go have fun.”

“If you haven’t noticed, Ben, my only friends are having the times of their lives with their significant others and I  _ am  _ having fun. With  _ you _ . Also, parties aren’t that fun when you don’t drink.”

“Oh, you’re not drinking either?” Ben questions.

“No, figured I’d lay off after the coyote incident. And the getting into a yelling match with my friends in front of everyone incident. Honestly, it just wasn’t going well. Why aren’t you drinking?”

“Gotta stay jacked, David, can’t be drinking unnecessary calories with no nutritional value.”

“Oh so if we picked up a pizza and some candy for a movie night, you wouldn’t eat any?” Devi raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t say that!” Ben protested.

“So do you want to come over, then? I have to tell my mom but it’s  _ you _ so it’ll be fine.”

“Sure,” Ben smiled, squeezing Devi’s hand a little before letting it go and pulling out his keys. “I’ll drive.”

After a call home and stop at the Ralph’s to pick up a frozen pizza and a bag of Halloween candy, Ben and Devi arrived at the Vishwakumar residence. Upon walking through the front door, the pair were greeted by Nalini and Kamala who seemed to have been waiting for them. Nalini looked suspicious.

“Hello, Benjamin. Welcome home, Devi,” Kamala greeted.

Nalini wasn’t so warm, “You were only gone for forty-seven minutes, Devi. What are you up to?”

“Relax, Mom. Aren’t you happy I made it home 3 hours before curfew? Ben and I just weren’t in the right mood for a party so we opted to watch Halloween movies instead.”

“That’s fine! Right, Auntie?” Kamala said, trying to aid Devi, “What harm can they get to right under our noses. We’ll be right here!”

“I suppose. But I will be upstairs as I cannot stand the thought of these scary movies. I expect you to behave yourself, Devi.”

“Yes, Mom. We just need to use the oven to cook this pizza and then we won’t leave the couch.”

“Oh! I can cook that for you two!” Kamala offered. “I just finished up dinner so the oven shouldn’t be cool yet. Let me go turn it back on,” grabbing the bad out of Devi’s hand and scurrying to the kitchen.

“Alright,” Nalini said, resigned, “Goodnight. And behave. And welcome to our home, Benjamin.” She smiled at them and then turned around and headed for the stairs, “And no funny business!” she yelled over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” Devi yelled after her, “It’s just Ben Gross.” Devi smiled at him and lightly elbowed him in the ribs. “I’m kidding,” she said, more quietly to him.

Ben wondered to himself about what Devi meant by that as he mindlessly followed Devi to the kitchen and took a seat next to her at the island. It wasn’t until he felt a kick to his foot and felt a pair of stares that he looked up and realized that Devi and Kamala had been talking and one of them had just addressed him.

“Sorry, what?” he said, blinking.

“Kamala said she liked your costume.”

“Oh, thanks! You guys are the only ones that got it.”

“Apparently,” Devi joked to Ben, “being a genius runs in our family.”

Kamala looked confused.

“No one at school or the party understood my costume,” Ben explained, “Devi was the only one clever enough to get it,” Ben beamed at her, “and you too now,” he said, turning to Kamala.

“Ah,” Kamala said, a look of understanding crossing her face and a knowing smirk settling on her lips, “Devi is quite the clever girl. She keeps us on our toes.”

Ben grinned and looked back at Devi, “I’ll bet she does.”

Now it was Devi’s turn to be silent and stare down at her feet. She was trying to hide the heat she felt on her face.

“Ah, well,” Kamala rescued, attracting Ben’s gaze back to her, “Your pizza should be done in a few minutes. What movie are you two going to watch?”

Devi, now recovered, looked back up, “Something super scary!”

Ben shifted but didn’t say anything.

“Well you have fun, I do not have any desire to watch a group of very attractive teenagers get murdered on a friendly weekend camping trip. Good night, Devi. Nice to see you, Ben.”

“You too, Kamala. Have a good night,” Ben smiled.

“Night,” Devi waved.

She turned back around and looked at Ben. He was still looking at the stairs where Kamala had just been. He looked lost in thought, zoned out. Devi reached toward his hands which were resting on the counter, but then stopped, her hands halfway bridging the gap between them. She shook her head, confused by her emotions.

She began to speak, “Hey, Be–”

Ding! The kitchen timer for the pizza went off. Ben turned back toward the kitchen, returning from his thoughts.

“Hm?” he said lazily.

“Nothing. Pizza’s ready,” Devi said getting up and grabbing an oven mitt on her way to the other side of the island where the oven was. She opened it up and pulled the pizza out, placing it on the stove, “Okay. Let’s decide what we watch while this cools down.”

  
  


“Okay,” Ben replied, straightening up, “Got any ideas?”

“ _ Halloween _ , maybe?” Devi considered, “Or  _ Hereditary _ ?”

  
  


“What’s that one about?”

“Pretty much just a weird family. It came out a couple years ago, it was pretty well-received. Good spooky vibes.”

Devi’s phone alerts her of a text message and she looks at it and begins typing.

“Okay,” Ben agreed unenthusiastically, “Who’s that? Paxton?”

Devi snorts, “Nah dude, just Fabiola and Eleanor asking why I’m not still at the party.”

“Did they just notice you were gone? It’s been over an hour!”

“Oh, no. They texted a while ago. When we were in the car. I’m just telling them what we’re doing.”

“Oh. Sorry again for making you feel like you had to leave, you really didn’t have to.”

“Can’t you just believe me when I tell you it’s fine and that I’m having a good time?” She smiles, “Here, slice this pizza while I go change into sweats.”

She heads to the stairs and disappears up them. Ben hops off of his stool and walks around to the side of the island where Devi just was. He moves the pizza from the pan to the cutting board that Devi had set out and grabs the pizza slicer next to it. 

When he’s halfway through slicing, Devi’s phone chirps again and Ben instinctively looks at it. It was a text from Eleanor.

_ ohhh okay then good luck with Ben ;-)  _

Immediately, Ben was confused. He knew he wasn’t supposed to see that, but what did it mean? Good luck with what? Why is Eleanor winking? And who still makes hyphen noses on smiley faces? Ben remained confused until he heard Devi coming back down the stairs. He hurriedly sliced the rest of the pizza. 

As he looked up from the pizza, he lost the ability to form a coherent thought. Devi had switched into sweats and tied her hair up. She just looked so comfortable and it made Ben feel all warm knowing that she was comfortable with him. He also felt suddenly overdressed.

“Pizza all done and ready?” Devi wondered, approaching.

“Yep. All set. Can I just run to my car and see if I left a sweater in there?” 

“Of course! I’ll move this feast over to the couch,” she smiled, grabbing plates out of the cupboard with one hand and picking up the cutting board of pizza with the other.

“I’ll be quick!” Ben said, dashing out. 

In the night air, Ben took a few deep breaths. What was going on? What was up with him? Why was his stomach in knots? And why did reading that text from Eleanor make him so hopeful? 

He did, of course, know the answer, though. Ben could be called many things, but an idiot was not one of them. He’d been studying the way he felt around Devi for a while now. Ever since Paxton waltzed into the History classroom, Ben had observed a change in the way he looked at Devi. In the way talking to and arguing with her made him feel. As much as Ben feared the thought, he knew that he’d certainly developed feelings for Devi somewhere along the way.

He walked over to his car and dug through, but didn’t find any sweaters. Peeved, he walked back to the house and took one more deep breath before walking back inside.

“No dice, Gross?” Devi said, peering at him over the back of the couch and seeing that he clearly hadn’t found an extra layer.

“Nope. It seems that I simply keep my car  _ too  _ tidy,” Ben shrugged, making his way around to the front of the couch.

“It’s understandable, you can’t just leave a Balenciaga hoodie crumpled up in the trunk. Your designer threads are too precious for the floor of your car,” Devi smiled, “Here, you can share my blanket!”

“Um. Okay, if that’s alright.”

“Of course it is, as long as you promise you won’t bite. Or blanket hog.”

Ben raised his hands in defeat as he plopped down next to her, “Okay, I’ll try not to.”

Devi scooted closer and threw an end of the blanket over Ben’s lap. She curled her knees up to her chest and reached for the remote.    
  


“Okay, I queued ut up while you were gone, you ready?”

“Go for it,” Ben replied, propping his now-blanketed legs on the ottoman.

The movie started out pretty normal. It was  _ weird _ but not full of jump scares. Ben had been worried about that as he’d never really been a fan of horror movies. He couldn’t admit that to Devi, though, because she’d see it as a weakness. As the movie went on, though, he settled down.

Then, about half an hour in, he watched the little sister get decapitated by a service pole on the side of the highway. That is when Ben lost it a little bit.

“NO! Nope. Mmm mmn. No,” he squirmed, terrified and uncomfortable and trying to hide it.

Not very well, though, it seems, because Devi picked the remote back up and paused the movie, “Are you okay? Sorry, I probably should’ve warned you about that bit. I’m sorry, I’ll turn it off and we can watch something else.”

“No, you don’t have to! I swear, it’s fine.”

“Benjamin Gross! This is clearly not what you want to be watching right now and that is okay! You could have said you don't like scary movies! As long as you’re here, I don’t care  _ what _ we watch.”

Devi blushed. She clearly hadn’t expected to yell that.

“Oh,” Ben stammered, once again stunned, “Well. Me too. I mean. With you. I’d watch anything. Just as long as we’re watching something together.”

“Just not this,” Devi nudged with her knee.

Ben looked at her, “Devi, why did you invite me over? You’ve never been one to take pity on me?”

“It’s not pity, you idiot. You never pitied me, why should I pity you?” she nudged

“Well then what–” Devi cuts him off, pressing a chaste kiss to Ben’s lips and then pulling away.

“You’re really not that bright, are you Gross?”

Ben grinned, “Maybe I’m a genius and my plan was just to get you to make a move.”

“Are you kidding me, Gross? I’ve been making moves all night!” she smacked him with a pillow, “Leaving a party with you, inviting you over, sharing my blanket!”

Ben frowned, “I just got confused.”

“Well, have things cleared up?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, before pulling her in for a longer kiss. 

Devi smiled, “Okay, so what should we watch then?”

Ben chuckled, “What about  _ Bend It Like Beckham _ ?”

“Oh so you can drool over Keira Knightley?”

“I won’t be drooling over anyone, don’t worry,” Ben blushed, then muttered, “In the movie, anyway.”

“Hmm? What was that?” Devi teased.

“Oh, nothing,” Ben smiled

“Just making sure,” Devi smirked, before laying her head down to rest on Ben’s lap.

Ben looked down at her and smiled, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. There was no way he was gonna watch a movie now.


End file.
